Fish&Fly - Adventure Fly Fishing: New Sealice Rules Proposed for New Brunwsick
New Sealice Rules Proposed for New Brunwsick
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CBC News on 12/11/2012 10:18:00
The New Brunswick government is proposing changes to the province's Aquaculture
Act that would require companies to report on their sea lice treatment and
monitoring programs.
Source: CBC News
Under the draft regulation, companies would have to submit a report each week
showing whether a sea lice treatment is planned, where the site is located and
what pesticide will be used.
The proposed amendments would also regulate how and when sea lice counts are
done, including reporting the number of cages and fish sampled, as well as the
life stage of the lice.
There are no formal sea lice rules currently in place for the aquaculture
industry, which brings in hundreds of millions of dollars every year to the
provincial economy and accounts for nearly 20 per cent of the workforce in
Charlotte County.
But Pamela Parker, executive director of the Atlantic Canada Fish Farmers
Association, says aquaculture companies are already voluntarily reporting the
information and have started releasing some of the non-proprietary information
publicly.
"So we feel that we are very much transparent," said Parker.
"However, again, to have this information be relevant, you have to provide a
broader base of information that then gets into the personal financial
statements of the owners of these companies. And we have to remember that these
are privately-owned and operated companies."
The association is also working with the Atlantic Veterinary College to create a
database for the information being collected, which will help it analyze the
efficacy of treatment and management strategies and track climate change by
water temperatures, said Parker.
Environmentalists want more openness
Still, the provincial government wants to formalize what, when and how the
companies report on sea lice.
The public has until Nov. 28 to comment on the draft regulation, which is posted
on the provincial government's website.
Matthew Abbott, the Fundy Baykeeper with the Conservation Council of New
Brunswick, contends the proposed changes are a step in the right direction, but
he would like to see even more openness in the industry.
"It's been our position that information on sea lice numbers, on disease, and on
pesticide use should be publicly available because these are public waters, and
since salmon farms aren't contained — they're nets where pesticides, disease,
and sea lice can come and go — the public should have access to the
information of what's happening on farms," Abbott said.
Last month, the province's access-to-information commissioner upheld a decision
to deny a Right to Information request on sea lice counts at individual salmon
farms in the Bay of Fundy.
Environmentalist Larry Lack, who filed the request, has argued the decision
effectively privatizes part of the ocean.